Method and system for co-operative charging of electric vehicles

ABSTRACT

A method and system provide for the cooperative charging of electric vehicles. By using power line communications, chargers of the electric vehicles who are serviced by the same distribution transformer can form self-contained local area networks due to the nature of power line communications. After the chargers of the electric vehicles are coupled to one another through power line communications, they can form a token ring network. According to this token ring network, a predetermined number of tokens can be assigned within the token ring network for permitting chargers with tokens to charge respective electric vehicles while chargers without tokens must wait until they receive a token to initiate charging.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention is generally directed to electric vehicles, and relatesmore particularly to the cooperative charging of electric vehicles, suchas plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With the demand for alternative fueled, environmentally friendly or“green” vehicles on the rise, electric vehicles will become the vehiclesof choice because of their zero emissions and their efficiency. Eachelectric vehicle may require a large amount of power to recharge. Manyelectric vehicle prototypes as of this writing have a storage capacityof 35 kWh. Each electric vehicle may require a recharge within a limitedperiod of time, most likely overnight.

As more and more electric vehicles come on line for being charged, thiscould cause a tremendous strain on existing power grids even if mostcharging of electric vehicles occurs in off peak hours. Existing powergrids are, in some instances, already operating at their maximumcapacities or loads. Any additional strain on existing power grids couldcause failures to each grid's infrastructure or necessitate largeinvestments to upgrade each grid's capability.

This potentially large electric vehicle charging load would add to thepresent load on the distribution system. A large contributor to thepresent load on the electric power distribution system is HeatingVentilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) in addition to other largeappliances like electric clothes dryers and electric ranges.

A focus of upgrades to the electric grids could include distributiontransformers. Distribution transformers are generally positioned inproximity of homes, which will also house any electric vehicles. Eachtransformer usually has a limited amount of supply current for charginglarge loads, like electric vehicles.

Currently, some solutions exist which manage the additional load thatelectric vehicles may place on existing power grids. FIG. 1 illustratesone such prior art solution.

FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art power grid system 10 that can include acentral controller 12, a substation 14, a feeder 16, a distributiontransformer 18, and electric vehicle chargers 20. The central controller12 can be coupled to the substations 14 which are in turn coupled tofeeders 16. The feeders 16 may be coupled to distribution transformers18. The distribution transformers 18 can be coupled to and supportvarious electric vehicle chargers 20.

The power grid system 10 functions as a power distributionsystem/network that connects producers of power with consumers of power.The power grid system 10 may include, but is not limited to, any one ofgenerators, transformers, interconnects, switching stations, and safetyequipment. As illustrated in prior art FIG. 1, a central controller 12can service at least two different substations 14A, 14B. The centralcontroller 12 can be designed to manage the extra demand or additionalload that can be attributed to the numerous electric vehicle chargers 20that can be brought online to support the battery storage of numerouselectric vehicles.

One of the main problems of this prior art central controller 12 modelis that it will require tremendous computing power to manage all of thevariables associated with the charging of electric vehicles from acentral location. If there are any problems with the central controller12, such problems could directly impact numerous customers with electricvehicles. In addition to this system 10 having a single point ofcritical failure, this central controller 12 may require additionalinfrastructure behind the power grid system 10 itself so that thecentral controller 12 can communicate with each electric vehicle charger20. For example, the central controller 12 may require an Internetconnection or a wireless network connection in order to communicate withthe electric vehicle chargers 20. This is on top of the communicationsinfrastructure needed by the central controller 12 to communicate withmonitoring points on the substations 14 and the feeders 16.

Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a system and method that canmanage the demand or load presented by electric vehicles and which doesnot require significant additional communications infrastructure. Thereis a need in the art to eliminate single point of failure designs sothat groups of electric vehicle chargers may operate independently ofone another. Also, such a solution, operating at the transformer levelcould offer control at the feeder and substation level as well.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A method and system provide for the cooperative charging of electricvehicles. The method and system includes coordinating charging at thetransformer or other low level of aggregation in a power grid.

When an electric vehicle is plugged-in at a residence for recharging, acharger for the electric vehicle can use a power line communication(PLC) communication module for communicating with other chargers thatare being serviced by the same, local distribution transformer.According to one aspect of the method and system, by using power linecommunications, chargers of the electric vehicles who are serviced bythe same distribution transformer can form self-contained local areanetworks due to the nature of power line communications.

Specifically, the strength of the signals for power line communicationsare such that usually only chargers coupled to the same distributiontransformer can communicate with one another. In other words, chargerscoupled to a first transformer will likely not be able to detect orcommunicate with other chargers who are coupled to a second transformerdue to the losses of power in the communication signals when they passthrough transformers and are propagated over power lines for significantdistances. According to the method and system, after the chargers of theelectric vehicles are coupled to one another through power linecommunications, they can form a communication network, such as atransformer local area network (LAN). The LAN can support a controlledcommunication timing system, such as a token ring network. According tothis token ring network, a predetermined number of tokens can beassigned within the token ring network. In one exemplary embodiment, onetoken may be assigned to a single electric vehicle out of a group ofelectric vehicles (with corresponding chargers) which are part of thetoken ring network. But more than one token may be provided, such as aplurality of tokens within a given token ring network, and is within thescope of the invention.

Only chargers with a token may receive energy from the distributiontransformer. In this way, a distribution transformer is not overloadedby energy requests and trying to fulfill those energy requests for aplurality of vehicles which may be beyond the capacity of thetransformer. In this way, overloading and possible failure of adistribution transformer may be prevented or avoided.

During formation of a token ring network or after all chargers of aparticular network have completed their charging, a list can begenerated to enumerate the chargers who are part of the network. Thislist can be stored in each charger's memory. Next, the first token orfirst set of tokens can be assigned to one or more chargers of electricvehicles within the network. The assignment of the first token or tokenscan be made according to predetermined criteria. For example, suchpredetermined criteria can include an assessment of the permanent serialnumbers that may be assigned to each charger. A charger with the highestor lowest serial number may be assigned to the first token. Othercriteria beyond serial identification numbers of chargers for assigningthe first token or first set of tokens is within the scope of theinvention.

The charger assigned with the first token then can determine thepriority of the token distribution within the token ring network. Thecharger assigned with the token can assess many variables associatedwith the charging of an electric vehicle in order to determine the orderin which chargers should receive the token. For example, variables suchas desired charge levels, amounts of charge needed for each vehicle,desired energy prices for charging a vehicle, the amount of timeavailable compared to the amount of charge needed, and determining ifany of the vehicles within the token ring network desire to uploadand/or sell energy from a vehicle to the grid in order to alleviate theload of the distribution transformer.

Once the charger with the first token determines the priority or orderin which the token should be passed from one charger to the next, thetoken is passed to the charger with the highest priority. Next, thecharger with the token is able to start or initiate a download of energyfrom the transformer. While energy is being downloaded, the charger canconstantly monitor the status of the energy storage unit which in manycases can be a battery or set of batteries. The charger can also monitorthe status of the other chargers who are members of the token ringnetwork. The charger assigned with the token can also monitor othervariables in the token ring network.

For example, other variables which can be monitored by the chargerassigned with the token can include, but are not limited to, monitoringthe time of day; determining if there is enough time to charge theremaining vehicles within the time allotted by a vehicle owner; checkingthe current price for energy downloads to the energy storage units ofthe vehicles; checking to see if other new vehicles and theircorresponding chargers have entered into the local network; determiningif there have been updates by vehicle owners for desired time of chargecompletion; and determining if some vehicles have extra energy to uploadto the grid.

In a manner similar to that described for electric vehicles, other largeload appliances besides electric vehicle chargers, such as HVAC units,could be added to the LAN and can run cooperatively with a power controlmechanism. Further, the HVAC units along with other appliances, like anelectric clothes dryer, could contain a communications processoroperating via the HomePlug standard, or equivalent. An application couldbe run on this processor of the general appliance which enables thedevice to join a cooperative charging/powering network.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a high level overview of a power grid system having acentral controller for managing electric vehicle chargers according to adesign of the prior art.

FIG. 2A is a functional block diagram illustrating a system for thecooperative charging of electric vehicles according to one exemplaryembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2B is a functional block diagram illustrating software modules thatcan be executed or run by the central processing unit in a PLCtransceiver of the vehicle electric chargers illustrated in FIG. 2Aaccording to one exemplary embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2C illustrates a user interface for an electric vehicle chargerillustrated in FIG. 2A that can be accessed by a home computer orpersonal digit assistant (PDA) according to one exemplary embodiment ofthe invention.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating multiple houses withelectric vehicle chargers serviced by a single power distributiontransformer according to one exemplary embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram illustrating an exemplary tokenring network formed by electric vehicle chargers of the various homes asillustrated in FIG. 3 according to one exemplary embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram illustrating an exemplary tokenring network in which a first token has been assigned to a firstelectric vehicle charger according to one exemplary embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram illustrating the token is passed toa second electric vehicle charger of a token ring network according toone exemplary embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a logic flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method formanaging electric vehicle chargers coupled to a power distributiontransformer according to one exemplary embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a logic flow diagram illustrating an exemplary routine formonitoring a status of electric vehicle chargers who are members of atoken ring network according to one exemplary embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 9 illustrates a prioritized token list which can be stored in eachnon-volatile memory of an electric vehicle charger that is a member of atoken ring network according to one exemplary embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram illustrating a system for thecooperative powering of general electrical appliances according to oneexemplary embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

A method and system provide for the cooperative and coordinated chargingof electric vehicles. By using power line communications, chargers ofthe electric vehicles who are serviced by the same distributiontransformer can form self-contained local area networks due to thenature of power line communications. After the chargers of the electricvehicles are coupled to one another through power line communications,they can form a token ring network. According to this token ringnetwork, a predetermined number of tokens can be assigned within thetoken ring network for permitting chargers with tokens to chargerespective electric vehicles while chargers without tokens must waituntil they receive a token to initiate charging. By limiting the numberof vehicles who are charging simultaneously, the load on a particulartransformer which services several vehicles (households) is restrictedto safe levels.

Turning now to the drawings, in which like reference numerals refer tolike elements, FIG. 2A illustrates a cooperative charging system 200according to one exemplary embodiment that includes a feeder 216 thatmay supply electric power to a distribution transformer 218. Thedistribution transformer 218 may comprise a general purpose distributiontransformer that may be rated for 600 volts and below. The distributiontransformer 218 may be ventilated or totally enclosed and may includeeither aluminum or copper windings in standard ratings such as on theorder of 50 Kilo Volt Amperes (kVA). The distribution transformer 218can supply appliance, lighting, motorized machine, and power loads fromelectrical distribution systems such as the feeder 216. However, othersized distribution transformers 218 above or below 50 kVA are within thescope of the invention.

The power line communications (PLCs) referred to in this description isa system for carrying data on conductors that may also be used forelectric power transmission. Electrical power is typically transmittedover high voltage transmission lines, distributed over medium voltage,and used inside buildings at lower voltages

The power line communications systems used herein may operate byimpressing a modulated carrier signal on the wiring system. Differenttypes of power line communications can use different frequency bands,depending on the signal transmission characteristics of the power wiringused. Since many power wiring systems are usually intended for onlytransmission of alternating current power, many power wire circuitsusually have a limited ability to carry higher frequencies. Thispropagation problem can be a limiting factor for power linecommunications, however, this propagation problem is used advantageouslyby the cooperative charging system described herein.

Because of the attenuation of power line communications over relativelyshort distances, chargers 215 of electric vehicles 245 that are beingserviced by the same, local distribution transformer 218 can formself-contain local area networks due to the propagation problem notedabove. This means that the strength of the signals for power linecommunications are such that usually only chargers 215 of electricvehicles coupled to the same distribution transformer 218 cancommunicate with one another. As noted earlier, chargers 215 of electricvehicles 245 coupled to a first transformer 218 will likely not be ableto detect or communicate with other chargers 215 who are coupled to asecond transformer 218 (not illustrated) due to the losses of RF powerin the communication signals when they are propagated over power lines203 for significant distances and through two or more transformers 218.

Specifically, there is typically high frequency loss through thetransformer. And usually, a signal from one house on a first transformerto a second house on a second transformer would not pass through twodistribution transformers.

The cooperative charging system 200 illustrated in FIG. 2A may supportstandard power line communications. For example, the cooperativecharging system 200 may utilize industry standard power linecommunication systems such as HomePlug 1.0 which is a specification forhome networking technology that couples devices to each other throughpower lines in a home 210. HomePlug certified products may couplepersonal computers and other devices such as chargers 215 for electricvehicles 250 that may also use other communication standards such asEthernet, USB (Universal Serial Bus) and wireless local area networkcommunications such as IEEE 802.11. Many devices may have the HomePlugstandard built in such as the chargers 215 illustrated in FIG. 2A. Withthe HomePlug standard built-in into a charger 215, to connect thecharger 215 to a network, all that is required is to plug the charger215 into an outlet of a wall in a home 210 such that it may communicatewith other devices that support the HomePlug standard.

Since the power line communication signals may travel a short distanceoutside of a home 210 to the distribution transformer 218, like manyother network standards, the HomePlug power line communication standardincludes the ability to set an encryption password. As with many othernetworking products, most HomePlug devices are “secured” by default inwhich the standard may require that all devices supporting the standardare set to a default out-of-box password, which may be a common one.Users of the devices are encouraged to change this password for obviousreasons.

Devices which support the HomePlug power line communication standard mayfunction as transparent network bridges which may allow computersrunning on any operating system to use them for network access. TheHomePlug communication standard supports the ability to use Ethernet ina bus topology in which it has carrier sense, multiple access andcollision detection.

This is achieved by the use of advanced orthogonal frequency divisionmultiplexing (OFDM) that allows co-existence of several distinct datacarriers along the same power-supplying wire. Use of OFDM allows turningoff (masking) one or more of the subcarriers which overlappreviously-allocated radio spectrum in a given geographical region. InNorth America, some HomePlug standards may only use 917 of an available1,155 subcarriers.

Referring back to FIG. 2A, the distribution transformer 218 may becoupled to homes 210A, 210B by electrical power lines 203A, 203B. Eachhome 210 may include a power line communications (PLC) transceiver 220that may be coupled to a home computer 212 or a personal digitalassistant (PDA) 214. The personal digital assistant 214 can couplewirelessly with the PLC transceiver 220 of a home. The home computer 212may have a hard wire connection or a wireless link with the PLCtransceiver 220. The PLC transceiver 220 can support standard power linecommunications such as the HomePlug standard described above. Theelectrical wiring of home 210 may be coupled to an electric vehiclecharger 215. Each electric vehicle charger 215 can be coupled to one ormore electric vehicles 245. Each electric vehicle 245 may furtherinclude a central processing unit 250 that may manage operations of theelectric vehicle 245, as well as an energy storage unit 240.

The PLC transceivers 220A1, 220B1, home computer 212, and PDA 214 areoptional equipment. In alternative exemplary embodiments (notillustrated), each electric vehicle 245 can couple to the distributiontransformer 218 automatically without a user adjusting settings forcharging the energy storage unit 240 of the electric vehicle 245.

While illustrated as part of the electric vehicle charger 215, theenergy storage unit 240 may physically be housed in the electric vehicle245. The electric charger 215 may also be part of or may be physicallyhoused in the electric vehicle 245. The electric vehicles 245 describedherein can include pure electric and hybrid electric vehicles, such asplug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), especially vehicles that havesignificant storage battery capacity and that connect to the power gridfor recharging a battery. The electric vehicles 245 described hereintypically obtain some or all of their energy for motion and otherpurposes from the power grid. Each electric vehicle 245 may have anenergy storage unit 240. The energy storage unit may comprise batteries,capacitors or some combination thereof, or any other electrical storagemechanisms. Each electric vehicle 245 with its energy storage unit mayor may not have the capability to provide power back to the electricgrid.

Each electric vehicle charger 215 may be coupled to the wiring of a home210 by a standard plug which is placed into an outlet of a wall or by aspecial high current receptacle not shown. Each electric vehicle charger215 may comprise a power line communications (PLC) transceiver 220A2,220B2, a central processing unit 225, random access memory (RAM) 230,and non-volatile memory 235. The central processing unit 225 of eachelectric vehicle charger 215 can be coupled to the PLC transceiver 220,the RAM 230, and the non-volatile memory 235. The CPU 225 can controlwhen power can be drawn from the distribution transformer 218 forstorage in the energy storage unit 240. The CPU 225 of each electricvehicle charger 215 can execute or run various program modules which arestored in RAM 230 and non-volatile memory 235. The non-volatile memory235 may comprise ROMs or EEPROMS. Other hardware configurations for theelectric vehicle charger are not beyond this scope of the invention.

In other words, the vehicle charger 215 may comprise firmware codeexecuted on micro-controllers, micro-processors, or digital signalprocessors, or state machines implemented in application specificintegrated circuits or programmable logic, or other numerous formswithout departing from the spirit of the invention. The electric charger215 may be provided with computer programs that include machine readablemediums having stored thereon instructions which may be used to performthe processes described below for supporting the cooperative charging ofelectric vehicles 245. The machine readable medium and each electricvehicle charger 245 may include, but is not limited to, optical disc,CD-ROMs, magneto-optical disc, ROMs, RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnet oroptical cards, flash memory or other type of media-machine readablemedium suitable for storing electronic instructions.

With the cooperative charging system 200 described herein, a firstelectric vehicle charger 215A can communicate with a second electricalvehicle charger 215B through the wiring of each home 210A, 210B andalong the power lines 203A and 203B which are coupled to thedistribution transformer 218. Since the electric vehicle chargers 215Aare “intelligent” devices, they can logically control when each electricvehicle charger 215 will draw or supply power along power lines 203 thatare coupled to the distribution transformer 218. In this way, asdescribed above, each electric vehicle charger 215 may draw or supplyits power at different times relative to other chargers 215 that arecoupled to the distribution transformer 218. In this way, overloadingand possible failure of the distribution transformer 218 may beprevented or avoided.

Referring now to FIG. 2B, this figure is a functional block diagramillustrating some software components and hardware components associatedwith the electric vehicle charges 215 that are illustrated in FIG. 2Aaccording to one exemplary embodiment of the invention. Specifically,FIG. 2B illustrates a system 260 of software and hardware components forthe cooperative charging system 200.

The system 260 of software and hardware components can comprise a powerline communications (PLCs) communications module 263, a token managementmodule 266, an energy storage unit management 269, energy storage unithardware 272, and a controller module 275. The power line communicationsmodule 263 can comprise programming or instructions that may residewithin the PLC transceiver units 220A1, 220A2, 220B1, 220B2 asillustrated in FIG. 2A. The PLC module 263 maybe coupled to andcommunicate with a token management module 266. The token managementmodule 266, controller module 275, and energy storage unit managementmodule 269 can reside in the non-volatile memory 235 of the electricvehicle charger 215. These three modules 266, 269, 275 can be executedor run by the central processing unit 225 of the electric vehiclecharger 215 as illustrated in FIG. 2A. Alternatively, (not illustrated)the modules can also be part of the automobile 245.

The token management module 266 can manage the token ring logic andfunctions as will be described in further details in FIGS. 4, 5, and 6below. The token management module 266 can communicate with thecontroller module 275 that may be responsible for all operations of anelectric vehicle charger 215. The energy storage unit management module269 may monitor the status of the energy storage unit hardware 272. Theenergy storage unit hardware 272 can include elements of the energystorage unit 240 such as batteries and capacitors. The energy storageunit management module 269 can determine the amount to charge remainingin the energy storage unit 240 as well as how long it may take to chargeto fully charge the energy storage unit 240 at a particular power level.

The energy storage unit storage management module 269 can also monitorinformation that may be entered by a user of the electric vehicle 245.Specifically, the energy storage unit management module 269 can receiveand manage data from a user who may enter in charge data through thepersonal digital assistant (PDA) 214, or the home computer 212. Theenergy storage unit management module 269 can support a vehicle chargemanager user interface that is described in further detail below inconnection with FIG. 2C. Meanwhile, the controller module 275 cancontrol one or more switches (not illustrated) that allow the energystorage unit 240 to be coupled to the wiring of the home 210 andultimately the power line 203A that is coupled to the distributiontransformer 218.

Referring now to FIG. 2C, this figure illustrates and exemplary display274 that may be provided on the personal digital assistant (PDA) 214 orhome computer 212 as illustrated in FIG. 2A according to one exemplaryembodiment of the invention. The display 274 may provide a userinterface 276 that comprises the vehicle charge manager. With this userinterface 276, the energy storage unit management module 269 in FIG. 2Bcan receive data from a user of the electric vehicle 245 that may berelevant to how the electric charger 215 supplies energy to or takesenergy from the energy storage unit 240A as illustrated in FIG. 2A.Specifically, a user may enter shortest distance data 278 into thevehicle charge manager interface 276. Similarly, a user may enterlongest anticipated distance travel data 280 into the user interface276. Based on this distance data 278, 280 the energy storage unitmanagement module 269 may calculate the amount of charge that will beneeded to be placed in the energy storage unit 240 based on a conversionof this distance data.

In addition to supplying distance data 278, 280, a user may also supplyprice point data 282 in dollars per kilowatt hour (kWh) in which theuser wishes to pay to purchase the energy to charge the energy storageunit 240. This price point data 282 can be one of the variables that ismonitored by each respective electric vehicle charger 215 during thecharging process or charging cycle. The user may also enter in uploadenergy data 284 to indicate whether excess energy that may be availablein an energy storage unit 240 such that the electric vehicle charger 215would upload excess energy in the energy storage unit 240 as appropriateto the distribution transformer 218 so that the energy uploaded issupplied to the grid where it might be used to a charge another electricvehicle 245 that desires to receive energy for completing a charge ofits energy storage unit 240. The user may also indicate lowest pricedate 286 at which the user desires to sell an energy storage unit'sexcess energy.

Further, the user may also enter time and date data 288 in which theuser will need the electric vehicle 245 to be appropriately charged forthe estimated distance data inputted into the vehicle charge manageruser interface 276. From this time and date data 288, the energy storageunit management module 269 can calculate the amount of time which willbe needed to charge an energy storage unit 240 to the desired capacityof the user based on the distance data 280 entered by the user into thecharge manager user interface 276. And additionally, a user may alsoenter an amount of reserve energy 289 that is desired beyond the amountcalculated for a particular distance, where the particular distance isalso entered by the user in the longest distance data field 280.

Referring now to FIG. 3, this figure is a functional block diagramillustrating a number of homes 210 which maybe coupled to a particulardistribution transformer 218 according to one exemplary embodiment ofthe invention. The homes 210 may be coupled to each other through copperwires 203 which may be joined in a central region of the distributiontransformer 216. Each home 210 may comprise an electric vehicle charger215 that is either separate from the electric vehicle 245 or is builtinto an electric vehicle 245. This figure illustrates a possiblescenario of at least five homes 210A, 210B, 210C, 210D, and 210E, thatmay be coupled to a distribution transformer 218 by power lines 203A-E.As discussed above, if each electric vehicle charger 215 comes onlineand attempts to draw power from the distribution transformer at the sametime then such a load may be very damaging to the distributiontransformer 218 or such load could cause the distribution transformer218 to have a major failure.

Referring now to FIG. 4, this figure is a functional block diagramillustrating an exemplary token ring network formed by electric vehiclechargers of the various homes as illustrated in FIG. 3 according to oneexemplary embodiment of the invention. The token ring system 400 can beemployed such that each charger 215 is brought online at different timesrelative to another electric vehicle charger 215. The logical token ring400 illustrates how a token from a first electric vehicle charger 215Acan be passed along the logical token ring 400 to the next charger whichcould be the second charger 215B so that the second charger 215B comesonline and establishes electrical connection along power line 203 whenthe second charger 215B has a token. The exemplary logical token ring400 indicates how a token can be passed along the logic suggested bythis figure. However, as will be described below, the token can bepassed between respective chargers 215 based on priority.

That is, for example, after the first vehicle charger 215A has completeda charge of its energy storage unit 240, the token maybe passed to thenext prioritized electric vehicle charger 215 who is a member of thelogical token ring 400. So this means, if a third electric vehiclecharger 215C has a higher priority relative to a second electric vehiclecharger 215B, then the third electric vehicle charger 215C would receivethe next available token before the second electric vehicle charger 215Bwould receive a token.

Referring now to FIG. 5, this figure illustrates an exemplary token ringnetwork in which a first token 502A has been assigned to a firstelectric vehicle charger 215A according to one exemplary embodiment ofthe invention. The token 502A illustrated in FIG. 5 indicates a firstelectric vehicle charger 215A can establish an electrical connectionwith the distribution transformer 218 along a power line 203A. Theremaining electric vehicle chargers 215B-215E have been illustratedwithout power lines 203B-E to signify that these electric vehiclecharges have not established an electrical connection between thererespective energy storage units 240 and the distribution transformer218. The token 502A can simply be flag in a list which may enumerate atoken order or rank 905 in a list of electric vehicle chargers 215 thatmaybe part of a particular token ring system or network to the 400.Further details of the token 502A will be described below with respectto the flow charts of FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 and the prioritize token list900 illustrated in FIG. 9.

Referring now to FIG. 6, this figures illustrates a second token 502Bassigned to a second electric vehicle charger 215E of a token ringnetwork according to one exemplary embodiment of the invention. FIG. 6also illustrates that the first token 502A illustrated in FIG. 5 is nolonger present. Alternatively, this conceptual diagram of FIG. 6illustrates that the first token 502A may have been passed to the fifthvehicle charger 215E based on priority. Since the fifth electric vehiclecharger 215 has the token 502B, the fifth electric vehicle charger 215Ecan establish an electrical connection between the distributiontransformer 218 and its self along the power line 203E. The fifthcharger 215E may draw power from the distribution transformer 218 or maysupply power to the distribution transformer 218. One of ordinary skillin the art will recognize that the invention is not limited to a singletoken distribution and any number of tokens 502 can be distributed alongthe logical token ring 400 as long as the amount of tokens 502 whichallow electric chargers to couple themselves to the distributiontransformer to a team do not cause any damage or failures of thedistribution transformer 218.

Similarly, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that thetokens 502 will be distributed along the logical token ring 400 so thatsome tokens allow electric vehicle chargers 215 to supply power to thedistribution transformer 218 while other tokens 502 may allow otherelectric vehicle chargers 215 to draw power from or through thedistribution transformer 218 such that the power from other electricvehicles 245 maybe received by the electric vehicle chargers 215 can inturn place the drawn power into the energy storage units 240.

Referring now to FIG. 7, this figure illustrates a logic flow diagram700 of a method for managing electric vehicle chargers 215 coupled to adistribution transformer 218. Logic flow diagram 700 highlights some keyfunctional features of the electric charger 215 of FIG. 2A. As notedabove, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the processfunctions of the electric vehicle charger 215 may comprise codeexecuting on a microcontroller, microprocessor, a DSP, or state machinesimplemented in application specific integrated circuits, programmablelogic, or other numerous forms without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention.

In other words, these steps illustrated in FIG. 7 and other logic flowdiagrams of this disclosure may be provided as a computer program whichmay include a machine-readable medium having stored there oninstructions which may be used to program a computer (or otherelectronic devices) to perform a process according to the invention. Themachine-readable medium may include, but is not limited, optical disk,CD-ROM, magneto-optical disks, ROMs, RAMs, EEPROMs, magneto-opticalcards, flash memory, or other type of medias/machine-readable mediumssuitable for storing electronic instructions.

Certain steps in the processes or process flow described in all of thelogic flow diagrams refer to in this specification must naturallyprecede others for the invention to function as described. However, theinvention is not limited to the order of the steps described if suchorder or sequence does not alter the functionality of the presentinvention. That is, it is recognized that some steps may perform before,after, or parallel other steps without departing from the scope andspirit of the invention. Further, one of ordinary skill in programmingwould be able to write such a computer program or identify appropriatehardware at circuits to implement the disclosed invention withoutdifficulty based on the flow charts and associated description in theapplication text, for example.

Therefore, disclosure of a particular set of program code instructionsor detailed hardware devices is not considered necessary for an adequateunderstanding of how to make and use the invention. The inventivefunctionality of the claimed computer implemented processes will beexplained in more detail in the following description and in conjunctionwith the remaining figures illustrating other process flows.

Step 705 is the first step of the process 700 in which one or moreelectric vehicle chargers may be coupled to a power line communicationsnetwork that can comprise power lines 203 as illustrated in FIG. 2A.Next, in Step 710, each CPU 225 of an electric vehicle charger 215 willgenerate a list of chargers which are part of the logical token ring 400as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5. Each CPU 225 of particular electricvehicle charger 215 may store the list of member charges 215 in itsrespective nonvolatile memory 235.

In Step 720, the assignment of the first token or group of tokens can bemade according to predetermined criteria. For example, suchpredetermined criteria can include an assessment of the permanent serialnumbers that maybe assigned to each electric vehicle charger 215. Anelectric vehicle charger 215 with the highest or lowest serial numbermay be provided with the first token 502. Other criteria beyond serialnumber identification of the electric vehicle chargers 215 for assigningthe first token or first set of tokens is within the scope of theinvention.

In Step 725, each of the electric vehicle chargers 215 can record thestatus of the first token assigned in the logical token ring 400. Next,in Step 730, the first charger such as the first charger 215A asillustrated in FIG. 5 which has the first token 502A can determine thepriority or order in which the token or set of tokens should be passedfrom one electric vehicle charger 215 to the next. Once this order ofpriority list such as the list illustrated in FIG. 9 is established withthe first vehicle charger 215A, the token 502 can be passed to theappropriate electric vehicle charger 215 with highest priority asillustrated by step 735 in FIG. 7.

In Step 740, charging of the electric vehicle 245 or the electricvehicle charger 215 with the highest priority can be initiated. Inroutine 745, the electric vehicle charger 215 with the token 502 canmonitor the status of the token ring members as illustrated in FIGS. 4-6as well as other variables such as power rates by charging. Furtherdetails of routine 745 will be described below in connection with FIG.8.

Next, in decision Step 750, it is determined whether the electricvehicle charger 215 has completed a charge for the energy storage unit240 of a particular electric vehicle 215. If the inquiry to decisionStep 750 is negative, then the “no” branch is followed back up toroutine 745. If the inquiry to decision Step 750 is positive, then the“yes” branch is followed to Step 755.

In Step 755, the token 502 can be passed to the electric vehicle charger215 with the next highest priority in the token ring list 900 asillustrated in FIG. 9. In decision Step 760, if determined if allelectric vehicles 245 who are members of a particular logical token ringnetwork 400 have been charged.

If the inquiry to decision Step 760 is negative, then the “no” branch isfollowed back to Step 740 in which charging of the vehicle with the nexthighest priority is initiated. If the inquiry to decision Step 760 ispositive, then the “yes” branch is followed and the process can then canend. As noted above, one of ordinary skill in the art recognizes thatmultiple tokens 502 can be distributed in any given logical token ringnetwork 400. Further, it is recognized by one of ordinary skill in theart that some tokens may be utilized for power consumption while othertokens allow energy uploads from a particular energy storage unit 240 ofan electric vehicle 245.

Referring now to FIG. 8, this figure illustrates a routine 745 formonitoring the status of a logical token ring 400 and the status ofother electric vehicle charging variables. Step 805 is the first step inthe routine 745 in which elapse time can be monitored by the electricvehicle 215 having a token 502. Next, in Step 810, the electric vehiclecharger 215 having a token 502 can check the token list 900 (asillustrated in FIG. 9) to verify that all vehicles 245 will be chargedto desired energy levels and the electric vehicle charger 215 can updatethe order of priority of the list as needed based on its calculations toverify that all vehicles 245 will be charged in the time remaining tocharge the vehicles 245.

In Step 815, the electric vehicle charger 215, which has a token cancheck the energy price rates for charging each electric vehicle 245within the logical token ring 400 and the electric vehicle charger 215with the token may update the order of the token list 900 as needed,depending on the particular energy rate that may be provided by theelectric utility through some network not covered by this application.In other words, as described above, each vehicle owner 245 may input adesired energy price rate at which to charge a user's electric vehicle245. A user may input this price data in the vehicle charge managerinterface 276 as illustrated in FIG. 2( c) and price data 282.

In step 820, a vehicle charger 215 assigned with a token 502 may alsocheck for new vehicles entering the logical token ring 400, and it mayupdate an order of the token list 900 as needed if a new vehicleelectric charger 215 has come on board, which has a higher priority incharging relative to other electric vehicle chargers 215 already presentin an existing logical token ring 400.

In step 825, a electric vehicle charger 215 with a token 502 can checkfor updates to desired charge levels for each vehicle 245. Specifically,it is possible that a user of a particular vehicle 245 in a particularlogical token ring 400 may decide to change his or her desired chargedvehicle time 288 as illustrated in FIG. 2( c). In such instances inwhich the desired charge vehicle time data 288 has been updated, thenthe electric vehicle charger 215 can update the order or priority of thetoken list 900 as needed. Also, it is also possible for each electricvehicle charger 215 to partially charge its respective vehicle 245 andthen pass the token 502 on so that each energy storage unit 240 isincrementally charged rather than completely charged when a token 502 isfirst received for a particular charger 215. Such a partial chargingalgorithm could help vehicles 245 if a power failure occurs and thatlimits the available hours for charging each energy storage unit 240.

In step 830, the electric vehicle charger 215 assigned a token can alsocheck for vehicles 245 desiring to upload excess energy in their energystorage units 240 to the distribution transformer 218, also known as avehicle to grid (V2G) upload. The electric vehicle charger 215 assigneda token can update its transformer token data as needed. One of ordinaryskill in the art recognizes that other variables associated withelectric vehicle charging may be monitored with a electric charger 215assigned a particular token without departing from the scope and spiritof the invention. Next, the routine returns to step 750 of FIG. 7.

Referring now to FIG. 9, this Figure illustrates an exemplaryprioritized token list 900 that can be stored in the nonvolatile memory235 of each electric vehicle charger 215 who may be a member of alogical token ring network 400. The prioritized token list 900 maycomprise a token order or prioritized rank 905 in addition toidentifying corresponding chargers assigned to a particular order orranking. In other words, the prioritized token list 900 may include anelectric vehicle identification column 910 that is associated with thetoken order/rank 905 column. The prioritized token list 900 may furthercomprise a column 915 that indicates charge status as well as a currenttoken assignment. In other words, this column 915 of the prioritizedtoken list 900 can identify if an electric vehicle 245 of a particularlogical token ring 400 has been charged as well as indicating a currentassignment of the token or plurality of tokens within a logical tokenring network 400.

In the example illustrated in FIG. 9, the first charger (charger number1) has been fully charged as indicated by this status in column 915.Meanwhile, the fifth charger (charger number 5) which has been assignedthe rank of 2 in the token order/rank list 905 has been assigned thetoken 502E as indicated by the “check” mark. One of ordinary skill inthe art will recognize that each charger 215 may track or store theprioritized token list 900 at all times such that if a particularelectric vehicle charger 215 fails, then the next ranking electricvehicle charger within the list 910 can follow the priority or order asenumerated in the prioritized token list 900. In this way, the logicaltoken ring system 400 will not fail because one charger fails. Thisoperates as a fail/safe mechanism for the token ring network 400 so thatif one charger 215 fails, then the remaining chargers 215 may still beable to charge the respective energy storage units 240 by completingcharging according to the prioritized token list 900.

Referring now to FIG. 10, this Figure is a functional block diagramillustrating a system for the cooperative powering of general electricalappliances 26 according to one exemplary embodiment of the invention. Anappliance 26 may comprise, but is not limited to, an air conditioningcompressor, furnace, or heat pump. The system includes a control unit 13having a relay 1033 that selectively opens the thermostat circuit thatenergizes the pull-in coil 30 for the 240VAC compressor contactor.

The control unit 13 may comprise an RF receiver 52, a token managementmodule 266, an RF receiver 52, a PLC communications module 263, acontrol processor 50, and a PLC 220. Elements labeled similar to thoseillustrated in FIG. 2B above will not be further described here.

In this exemplary embodiment for the control of powering appliances 26similar to the electric vehicle chargers 215 discussed above, when theControl Contact 1033 in unit 13 is open, the compressor 26 will be heldin an off state. When the Control Contact 1033 is closed, the thermostat38 will control the compressor as it normally does. In a standardembodiment of control unit 13, the Control Contact state is dictated byremotely received RF commands in RF receiver 52 and the controlprocessor 50 within the unit 13 acting on those commands. For thepurpose of this invention, a parallel control mechanism is envisionedthat will also control the Control Contact 1033 as dictated by thepresence or absence of an enabling token 502 managed by the tokenmanagement module 266, similar to FIG. 2B discussed above.

One suitable device for the control unit 13 is a Digital Control Unit(DCU) box manufactured by Comverge, Inc. The DCU box is designed to becoupled outside near the air conditioning compressor. The DCU box mayadditionally be employed for communication through various channels,including through wide area and local area networks to an energyprovider. Another suitable device would be a thermostat 38 manufacturedby Comverge, Inc. Rather than being disposed on the outside of abuilding, the thermostat 38 would be placed within the building.

The control unit 13 can comprise a PLC transceiver 220. The control unit13 can support a token ring network 400, like that illustrated in FIGS.4-6 discussed above. However, instead of the token ring network 400being formed only by electric vehicle chargers 215, the token ringnetwork 400 could be formed by general appliances 14 in combination withelectric vehicle chargers or only among other general appliances 14. ThePLC transceiver 220 in this embodiment, like the other embodimentsabove, can support standard power line communications like HomePlug 1.0,as discussed above.

Alternative embodiments of the cooperative charging or powering system200 will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art to whichthe invention pertains without departing from its spirit and scope.Thus, although this invention has been described in exemplary form witha certain degree of particularity, it should be understood that thepresent disclosure is made only by way of example and that numerouschanges in the details of construction and the combination andarrangement of parts or steps may be resorted to without departing fromthe scope or spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of thepresent invention may be defined by the appended claims rather than theforegoing description.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A method for establishing a cooperative chargingsystem comprising: generating a list of one or more chargers who aremembers of a token ring network; determining a priority for a tokenassignment among the one or more members of the token ring network;passing the token to a charger with the determined priority; andinitiating charging with the charger with the determined priority. 22.The method of claim 21, wherein the charger comprises a battery chargercoupled to a battery of an electric vehicle, and wherein chargingcontrol logic is resident in the electric vehicle.
 23. The method ofclaim 21, further comprising assigning a token to a first electriccharger according to predetermined criteria.
 24. The method of claim 21,further comprising monitoring a status of electric vehicle chargers whoare members of the token ring network while charging with the electricvehicle charger having the determined priority.
 25. The method of claim23, wherein the predetermined criteria comprises a determination basedon a permanent serial number assigned to the charger.
 26. The method ofclaim 21, wherein determining the priority for the token assignmentcomprises assessing an amount of time available to charge a respectiveelectric vehicle.
 27. The method of claim 21, wherein determining thepriority for the token assignment comprises assessing an amount ofcharge needed for a respective electric vehicle.
 28. The method of claim21, wherein determining the priority for the token assignment comprisesassessing a current cost of electricity available for charging anelectric vehicle.
 29. A method for establishing a cooperative chargingsystem comprising: determining a priority for a sequential assignmentamong the one or more members of a network; passing an authorization toa charger with the determined priority, the authorization comprising apermission to activate; and initiating one of uploading of electricityfrom an energy storage unit and charging of the energy storage unit withthe charger with the determined priority.
 30. The method of claim 29,further comprising assigning a token to a first electric charger of atoken ring network according to predetermined criteria.
 31. The methodof claim 29, wherein each charger comprises a battery charger coupled toa battery of an electric vehicle, and wherein charging control logic isresident in the electric vehicle.
 32. The method of claim 29, furthercomprising generating a list of one or more electric vehicle chargerswho are members of a token ring network.
 33. The method of claim 29,further comprising monitoring a status of electric vehicle chargers whoare members of the token ring network while charging with the electricvehicle charger of the determined priority.
 34. The method of claim 29,wherein the predetermined criteria comprises a determination based on apermanent serial number assigned to the charger.
 35. The method of claim29, wherein determining the priority for sequential assignment comprisesassessing an amount of time available to charge a respective electricvehicle.
 36. A method for reducing a load on an electric grid,comprising: controlling one of downloading and uploading of energy fromthe one or more appliances with electronic intelligence which isdistributed across the one of more appliances so that a load on adistribution transformer is substantially reduced; and establishing atoken ring network among the one or more appliances.
 37. The method ofclaim 36, further comprising coupling one or more appliances to adistribution transformer.
 38. The method of claim 36, further comprisingassigning a token to a first appliance according to predeterminedcriteria.
 39. The method of claim 36, wherein at least one appliancecomprises an electric vehicle charger, and wherein charging controllogic is resident in the electric vehicle.
 40. The method of claim 36,wherein the token ring network comprises a local area network (LAN).